Numerous devices that include an applicator roller are already known.
Thus, publication EP 0 079 044 describes a device in which the roller is mounted in a housing that extends between two uprights of an applicator head that is screwed onto the neck of a container. The roller acts as a shutter member relative to the composition passing through the neck. With such a device, it is relatively difficult to control the flow of composition, since the tighter the roller is mounted in the housing of the applicator head, the greater the resulting sealing in the absence of use, but the more difficult it is to turn the roller.
Application FR 2 640 414 discloses a device in which the composition is delivered to the applicator roller by a bent tube and it is dispensed within the roller by orifices in the tube. The appearance of that device recalls the appearance of a roller for applying paint. In addition, the bent tube needs to withstand the mechanical stresses that are encountered during application, thereby making it difficult for it to be fabricated out of a material that is not a metal.
Analogous devices for applying paint are described in the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,739; U.S. Pat. No. 3,268,943; and FR 1 164 203.
Application WO 92/04842 discloses a device in which the applicator roller turns about an axis of rotation that is at an angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the container.
Application DE 34 47 845 describes a device for applying a care product, the device comprising a porous applicator roller within which the care product is dispensed by a perforated tube.
There exists a need to benefit from a device that enables the quantity of composition that is dispensed to be controlled easily, and that can be cleaned easily.